GRAND TERRACE — When it comes to recruiting college football players, does size really matter? If you ask Grand Terrace football coach Ryan Smalls, he’ll say no.

Some college football experts would disagree.

Smalls is passionate about the subject because he’s passionate about his football program and his players — the best of whom is senior running back Jonta McMullen, who is listed on the team’s roster at 5-foot-4.

McMullen’s numbers stack up with the best of them. In eight games this season he has rushed for 1,308 yards and 22 touchdowns, gaining 125 yards or more in every contest.

In last week’s 50-14 victory over Kaiser that assured the Titans (8-1, 4-0) a share of their first Sunkist League title in the school’s short history, McMullen ran for 168 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. More impressive was his 57-yard touchdown reception in which he jumped up in between two defenders to snag the pass from sophomore quarterback Mekhi Lewis.

“They ask me all the time what separates him from other players, and I say he’s better than those players,” Small said. “I hear … can he take a pounding at that size? Well there are guys 6-2 that get hurt, too.”

McMullen, 17, is eager to prove his naysayers wrong. This season is not a fluke by any means. He ran for 1,790 yards and 21 touchdowns last year as a junior and was a key player on the varsity as a sophomore as well.

“For me, that’s just more motivation. It just makes me want to go out there and show them what I can do,” McMullen said.

McMullen, affectionately called “Shorty” by his friends and teammates, got his start in the sport at the age of 8 in the Colton Junior All-American Program, as did many of his Grand Terrace teammates. He had two older brothers who played football at San Bernardino High School — Ovell, now 27, and Marquis, 25. They are his biggest fans and constructive critics as well.

Then there is his mother, DeShante, whom Jonta calls his best friend. She never misses one of his events.

“We talk about my games all the time, and it’s usually about what I could have done better, not what I did right,” he said. “But that’s the way you get better.”

Football has always been his favorite sport , but he also competes in track. He excels in the sprinting events, but he also, competes in the jumping events, which are more tailored to athletes of a taller and lankier stature.

Smalls said he thinks McMullen intends to play at the Division I level, it’s just a matter of finding the right fit. He wouldn’t be the best option for a team that prefers the pounding-type running game. The perfect system would be more of a spread, read-option type of offense in which he can use his cutting ability as well as his superb field vision.

Smalls is quick to point out that McMullen has all the other positive attributes that colleges want to see in a player. His grades are good, and he has always been a model student and teammate.

He prides himself on being on outgoing person who gets along with others, and would like to go to college and major in psychology because he likes working with kids and might pursue a career as a social worker.

“I really like people, especially kids,” McMullen said. “I have just always been an outgoing person, and I enjoy everything I do.”

The Titans wrap up the regular season this week against Bloomington. Then it is on to the CIF-SS playoffs, where the school competes in Division 10. It is a close-knit team with players who have grown up together, which McMullen says is a big reason for the team’s success.

Michelle Gardner has covered high school sports and local colleges for the Daily Bulletin and Sun since 2002. She previously covered a wide variety of sports from the high school level to the professional ranks in Florida with tenures at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Naples Daily News and the Fort Myers News-Press and is graduate of the University of Florida.

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